(Remember) Lavene Plant (Always)

At the sound of the friendly
Pointy, funneled voice from the bushes,

the girl stopped.

"Hello!" said the voice. "Congratulations."

Hesitantly she said "Thank you"
And asked who the voice belonged to.

A big laugh that didn't fit the voice
Came out of the bushes (but she knew
the laugh and the voice came from
the same thing.)

"You know who I am, hee hee hee hee hee!"

The voice seemed to be
Coming from around the height
Of her knees.

So,
(being the curious girl that she was)

She knelt down, one knee on the
Gravel
And she parted the budding leaves
of the small bush.

There sat Kermit the Frog.

"Hee hee hee hee hee," he cackled
And slapped his knee (do frogs
have knees? she thought wildly to herself
And laughed)

"Kermit, what are you doing here?" she asked
Through her laughter.

He shrugged his nonexistent shoulders somehow
And said,

"They told me that this was what you wanted."

She didn't know what he meant
But she did know didn't she.

Kermit said, "Well Jean, we've got a lot
to do today so, pick me up and let's
get to it. I'd hop along with you but
I've developed bursitis in my flipper. Did I
ever tell you about the time that Ernie
and I dressed up like gangsters and
convinced Gonzo to eat a WHOLE (he
waved his hands wildly here) BUNCH of
garbonzo beans? Well, the letter of the
day was G, you see. I was supposed to call
Grover but he was helping Oscar with his
Garbage. Anyway, Gonzo ended up eating the
Garbage by mistake..."

Jean had picked him up by this
Time and his
Flippers (feet?) hung over
her forearm, dangling perfectly.
They wandered through the forests (deja vu)
And Jean started to feel
(deja vu)
As if (deja vu)
She were remembering something
The brush gave way

There was a little Cape in front of her.

The square yard had a
square rock
lined up

Directly
with
the
bulkhead (black)
All of these she saw
squarely through the
Swingset (rusty)

A woman with an afro
Carried a square (like the swingset)
Baby
Around the yard

The sprinkler ran.
A small boy followed
Looking intently
At the cargo his
Mother held.
The baby's hand clutched
A small object
Too small to
Be discerned.

The lens zoomed in
On a (little)
Small (people)
Person
(Little people)
Peeps!
A peep
Who did not know it
Yet but who would
Later be named (aptly)

Bodger
By another swingset (baby)

Now the boy was
Holding the swingset (baby)
As the mother
Took
A
Walk (twilight)

Around the block (the whole world.)

With the father
Who had been
Watching Sesame Street
Watching Sheila (swingset)
Watching Ses (reading, he'd been reading)

The sun sank into the
Other side of the neighborhood (the whole world)
As the family
Converged
For dinner
"Bren, bring Grania in."
"Sheil, come down for dinner."
And the lights went out.

As the bushes folded the scene away from
Jean and Kermit, her tear was
Absorbed in the space (forehead?) between his ping-pong
balls. (EYES)

They walked through the
Woods in silence
Kermit (from his porch)
Brushing branches away
From the distracted girl (woman?)

They were (under the big
Red Sun)
Back where she
Had first heard his
voice
(first heard his voice today that is, she had first heard
his voice fifteen years ago at some time in the morning
and she hadn't even understood it but she knew
it was important important important)
NOW,
She was wearing a white cap and gown.

Kermit put his flat, floppy arms around her
trembling shoulders and said,

"Good luck on your graduating day Grania. Todays message was brought to you by the letter G and the number 1990."

She gently placed him on the ground.
He kissed her cheek with
His pointy nose mouth lips cloth

And, as the bushes closed around
His eternal face,

Kermit the Frog whispered,

"Always remember"